The present invention generally relates to children""s furniture. More particularly, the present invention relates to a child""s art table.
Before children can manage written language to express themselves, they will use drawings to express their imagination and their view of the world. Parents generally encourage their children to express their imagination and artistic aspirations by providing them with paper, crayons, pencils, etc. for drawing and coloring. Children are also encouraged to draw and color pictures from an early age in pre-school and kindergarten to promote learning. However, parents usually do not provide children with adequate and dedicated flat surfaces at home for making drawings. Children will make their drawings on kitchen tables, dining tables, living room coffee tables and/or even on floors, when adults are not supervising them properly. Children generally do not have a good concept of the consequences of their actions, however, and typically are not especially careful or neat when using paints, crayons and markers. Often color marks are left on tables, floors and walls, which marks are almost impossible to remove, and drawing papers, pencils and crayons are everywhere, requiring that someone, i.e., the parents, continually pick up and clean up the mess created by what should be a creative activity for their children.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a great need for an art table dedicated to children, whereby supplies of paper can be easily attached along with other drawing supplies, such as crayons, pencils, markers, etc., to remedy these and other related and unrelated problems.
Briefly described, the present invention generally comprises an art table designed and built to serve as a centralized drawing station for storing and securing papers, crayons, markers and other art supplies. Children thus can have their drawing supplies, such as pencils, color markers, crayons, etc., readily available and will have a large space for drawing, where children can have fun time drawing, painting, etc., with any mess confined to the table area.
The art table is comprised of a top member that provides a substantially flat, solid, hard activity surface, on which children can make their drawings, supported by a support structure, and a paper dispensing assembly and a variety of supply holders and trays supported proximate to the activity surface by that same support structure.
In preferred embodiments, the activity surface is defined on an elongated plate-like top member, and the support structure includes two leg assemblies displaced from each other, one adjacent to each end of the top member. In preferred embodiments, an elongated tray is mounted to and extends between the two leg assemblies below the top member, a paper dispenser is supported under the top member, adjacent one end, and a plurality of same or variant shaped supply holders are supported by braces above the activity surface adjacent each end of the table top member. In preferred embodiments, the paper dispenser holds a roll of paper at one end of the table, from which paper is dispensed over and onto the top surface to provide a ready supply of paper for drawing. Wheels are, alternately, mounted on the leg assembly at one end of the table to aid in moving the art table.
Drawing supplies, such as paint, pencils, color markers, crayons, etc. can be placed into the supply holders for easy access. Lighting fixtures or devices also can be attached to the braces for providing additional illumination to the table. The lower tray also serves to provide additional storage space for drawing supplies or artwork by the children.
Various objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following specification when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.